Interested in the Bush SRP31.

[Anddrew]

Thankyou for the two recent replies, i wont change the set up of the BSRSX6M even though it is not brilliant .i only mentioned the TC8 because it was bought because i could not get a original cart a bit a go ,new unused old stock condition not known .This seems to be the set up and preferance of Dansette enthusiasts and owners which they seem to use.
This is not a re pro cart .I Guess all i wanted to know was would the sound be better clearer .
i wont be removing the BSRSX6M out of the headshell, i do need a cart something to play my stereo records with . Istill think the Ful FI BSR TC8M it would mean the tracking set heavier . I did read on here someone uses two separate Garrard Headshells . One for stereo and one for mono playing of their vinyl record. It just was just a thought to make a comparison.

[Anddrew]

having My Bush SRP31 1959 back over the last few days i have been playing 7 inch 60s and early 70 s records with the fitted BSRSX6M cartridge which is a stereo cart playing in mono. I have cleaned the pins on the Garrad headshell carefully, their were a bit of slight dark oxidize on two pins . I was not sure what to use to clean these pins .i just used a cotton bud , i used 4 and the pins came brighter.

If you know what you use maybe Isoprophyl Alcohol ??. please advice i carefully cleaned inside the connecting arm where the headshell pushes in it removed some more grey on cotton bud i did not damage anything inside of those pins.



I test played a few records and now seems clearer the volume is their and even played a record which maybe some of you realise phillips recording studio, always gave a empty sound ie Dusty Springfield, poor begger had to sing on some tracks in ladies loo to get the acoustics she wanted , she was so particular fussy about sound.Just like me .I like clear sound,it dont have to be HI Fi quality i undersand these portables wont do that . To those who ask why did i choose old portable Bush record player i have ill health, half blind and live back with elderly parents so their simply is no room for hi fi in a box room which i spend most of my time in.

I may not be a electronic expert but have acute hearing and do know sound when its sounds clear ,and detect when my hearing is missing something. I come from a musical family and simply love music even if i have gone back to my childhood of playing on that old PYE portable which had a radio in the speaker grille back in 1967 at age 4 years old.

I have enjoyed all your kind personal feedback and comments ,i do hope this thread was not boring and hope this thread will be of use to someone else in the future in a similar position.

I did take advice from some forum members previous posts on another threads on choosing in your opinions a portable record player Bush came in within the top 4 record players .Usually Hacker at the top but having too much bass and no treble on Gondolier did not appeal .also the cavalier is no good having all treble and not enough bass is no good either. So i chose the Bush SRP31 range THANKYOU , to the members who like this model. I also read michael Maurice and did see his comments on the Bush also.

If you would like to comment further please feel free.

[Station X]

Originally Posted by Gabe001

Try asking for one in the request section of this forum

Good idea. That section is here:-

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...play.php?f=145

[Anddrew]

Due to the scarceness of these old BSR cartridges as a member quoted rare as hens teeth , Station X the BSRX5M is going to be hard to get hold of someone also requested a wants on here still no members have come forward to solve this request.

.i have been told the fitted stereo BSR SX6M will be ok . Now the stylus is new which is fitted what is the best place to buy quality replacement styluses ,yes their are 4 dealers online .who sell styluses and cartridges on line in the UK Also a Auction site beginning with E ending in Y styluses seem easier to purchase replace cartridges no . Not sure if price reflects on quality or even old stock ST syluses like Pinnicle are worthy or any good. i guess you dont no till you fit them?.

Your thoughts appreciated.

[ben]

For styli, Musonic have a good reputation. Styli and carts from ebay sellers can be dodgy, I have seen people selling stuff as new when it is obviously used. Some people think that just because it is in a box it must be okay.

In any case, a new stylus should have a life of thousands of hours and will not need to be tinkered with in the foreseeable future. Given that this thread began due to your problems with fitting the BSR stylus, I would suggest leaving it alone!

[Anddrew]

Thanks for your advice Ben , i was only enquiring, simply because everyone will have bought and replace their styluses at some point and be happy or not so happy with the quality
.Yes Musonic is a company i am well familiar with .I did used to when i was well , have my own Home and have a nice hi fi set up my carts and styluses came from their. obviously more modern moving magnetic and chose expensive ones. but back to a Cartridge even Musonic dont have much on BSR carts now.

[AndiiT]

Hi, on the subject of cartridges I can only echo what others have said previously, however here is my take on your issue. If you are adamant about not using one of the cheap Chinese cartridges you could try looking for a Sonotone 8TA (which, coincidentally were factory fitted in the SRP31D series of players) or a Sonotone 9TA, sadly these too aren't without their problems as they age so obtaining a good working item may come at a price.

Another option may be one of the ACOS/Cosmocord range of cartridges such as a GP91-3sc, if you aren't bothered about having the stereo option as this cartridge is a stereo compatible type only having two connections, or the GP93 or 94 series which are true stereo cartridges.

The ACOS cartridges are probably the ones which have the least difficult of procedures to replace the stylus, as the carrier is integral to the flip over tab and the stylus just "snaps" in.
Hope this helps and doesn't add to the confusion.
All the SRP31 series are great players, capable of decent sound quality.

Regards
Andrew

[Edward Huggins]

Sorry to appear picky about your Post 47, but the Acos GP91-3SC Is a high-output type and would not be suitable - but the Acos GP-1SC or GP-2SC would provide a better match.

[Anddrew]

Thank you Andrew for your first post on this thread i have read your posts on other interesting threads you always try to be helpful. I guess anyone on here can make an opinion of what they feel is in their personal opinion what might help. It is always nice to have options to choose from, searching cartridges. It is not easy because of their age. I have noted the numbers of Acos and also for Sonotone.

But sadly now my head is in a spin because Edward seems to put two more cartridge numbers down .and it appears Acos Gp91-3SC is wrong and a high output just like he corrected a BSRX5H to me ,but only gave a BSRX5M solitary advice cart to find, which Edward would realise is not available .This in turn proved a nightmare to search on the net all saying no stock and I have one anyway second hand which I did clearly post.

It would have been helpful if experienced electronic members of this forum ones who post their personal comments this would have given me options and I would then know which is a too low a cart and what is required. I am sorry but I have tried my hardest, typing half blind is no fun even on here and searching on a computer gives me eye strain.

What may have helped me if some kind member had posted options just like Andrew in post 47 and Paul I think for the BSR stylus ST numbers this would have helped me very much. If the mV hope I am making sense required had being given I would have known, which would give clear sound as opposed to low volume. cartridge I am sure experienced members would know this especially if you own any Bush record player from the SRP31 range.

I made a mistake and bought Ronette cartridges only to be corrected but no advice apart from BSRX5M or Chinese cartridge which may cost nothing and be cheap to purchase and may be OK for some people.

So if any experienced member of this forum on here reads this post please feel free to pass on your knowledge. Beginners to vintage record players need to learn not find their way round in the dark. I once read on a thread on here where someone hit the nail on the head. Not everyone is a electronic expert but simply wishes to learn and take a great interest in owning a old vintage appliance learn the basics understand where possible, but I would rather see people interested and using vintage as oppose to those cheaply mass produced made modern record players.

feel free to pass on your expertise we all need to learn somewhere.Yes i am learning not just about carts but how to service a Bush basic tasks like the idler wheel cleaning top moter removing grime off brass ,tracking and balancing, stripping down a donor Bush SRP31 ,identifying the components saving usful parts .I think this is more than just asking about cartridge advice , wish i had 20 20 vision but i dont but i do try.

[jamesperrett]

Later BSR cartridges (as far as I know) have a logical numbering scheme...

S - means stereo. If there isn't an S on the front then it is a mono cartridge
X or C - X is crystal while C is ceramic
nn - this is the model number of the cartridge
M or H - M is medium output while H is high output.

So you need to avoid BSR cartridges with an H on the end.

Edward is right about the Acos cartridges too - The GP91-3SC has an output of 630mV at 1.2cm/s while the GP91-2SC has an output of 360mV and the GP91-1SC has an output of 200mV.

Unfortunately buying any European made crystal cartridge these days is going to be a bit of a lottery - I don't know of a trusted source unless there is someone here that has something. I think all my crystal cartridges have at least one channel that doesn't work (apart from a recently purchased Chinese one).

[Anddrew]

Thankyou again for the information.it appears a cartridge with 630mv will be too high .But comparing a BSR cartridge a BSRX5M is 400mv the BSRSX6M is 280mv .
So the Acos GP91-2SC seems the better cartridge been at 360mv closer to a BSRX5M at 400mv.
The ACOC Cart GP91-1SC seems low at a 200mv worse than the Ronette DC105 , which Edward adviced would be no good along with some others members comments they too said it would be no good and it was am low sound.
So i guessing why is a ACOS GP91-1SC any good ??. it seems low to me at 200mv.

Now by comparisons kindly given by Andrew and James we are now getting MV figures.

can someone now please give me the figures of power and mv from the original crystal factory fitted at BUSH which was a GC8 cartridge. which by the way when my electronic repair guy took my bush away to be repaired ,he tested it with the GC8 cart which i bought it with ,i fitted a tiny new stylus and thought it did not work but it does.. once repaired with this fitted he said it sounded great .BUT it was no good keeping it so i gave it him for someone else should they need it .
I have 1970s single records in stereo along with some late fifties and sixties singles in mono , so that is why i kept asking advice for a stereo compatable cartridge.

Please feel free to comment further and if you know the correct output of carts for BUSH SRP31 range . please list them someone else is bound to find this thread and hope they find the information useful when it is required.

[jamesperrett]

According to the Radio Museum website

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/garrar...ridge_gc8.html

the output of a Garrard GC8 is 200mV which is the same as the Acos GP91-1SC. All the voltages that I've given have been at a groove velocity of 1.2cm/s. It is important to check the groove velocity because nowadays most cartridge outputs are specified at 5cm/s which will give much higher output values.

[Edward Huggins]

As at this Posting, I am not quite sure if the OP is now happy with the performance of his Bush SRP31 and is now just persuing an academic interest in crystal and ceramic cartridges, or if there are still some outstanding issues with his record player?

[Anddrew]

Thankyou for the above posts.
Regarding your comments Edward throughout this thread , i have taken notice of everyones comments .If you can try to at all visualise how hard it is for any person partially sighted to undertake tasks you may do this easily, it is not for me.
vision is tough. but what i have found , if earlier in the thread cartridge mV and a explanation of mV then i could have found it easier to understand .what of suitable cartridges were out there be it 4 suppliers online .Also if you knew what fit it would have been nicer to advice me apart from the rare unobtainable BSRX5M had been listed and maybe i would not have asked so many questions in the fiirst place.

Coming on this forum should be pleasant and helpful from experience d members and i thought fellow interest was about Vintage not modern on here .That is why i do not like cheap chinese stuff . I have had so many bad experiences of Chinese electrical items i wont bore anyone. I am no snob but i will not put anything made in China on my vintage Bush

If i had had information of cartridges to purchase which Andrew kindly gave a few examples later in post 47 .Only only to be corrected by Edward because from what i have now worked out a cartridge needs to be 200mV. this would have been so helpful if someoine had pointed this out earlier.
So to answer you Edward i asked about a old GC8 cartridge because i have finally got the mV figure of 200mV.

I have NO outstanding issues with my Bush SRP31 circa 1959 player it is sounds clear produces volume it has a cart suitable which is a stereo compatable BSRSX6M which somone on here said was fine only thing i dislike the ST stylus fittings but anyone in my position would .
Have just bought A BSRSX5M for a spare.new old stock it will either work or it wont ,i have bought it because most people on here will have a cart tucked away somewhere My other Bush SRP31 is at this moment having a good service and i have sent it away with a BSRX5M so it will be interesting to compare which sounds better either the BSRSX6M or The BSRX5M Cartridges. when both Bush SRP31 are together ..

i shall keep you posted and i can then say which cart produces the best souind if any noticable differerance will occur.

[ben]

Originally Posted by Anddrew

if earlier in the thread cartridge mV and a explanation of mV then i could have found it easier to understand .what of suitable cartridges were out there be it 4 suppliers online .Also if you knew what fit it would have been nicer to advice me apart from the rare unobtainable BSRX5M had been listed and maybe i would not have asked so many questions in the fiirst place (....)because from what i have now worked out a cartridge needs to be 200mV. this would have been so helpful if someoine had pointed this out earlier.

We only had confirmation of what exact model of Bush player you have in post 21, and I myself explained the BSR carts' output specs in post 32, so I find your comments rather uncalled-for. Please remember that members on here are not paid, and share their knowledge in their spare time. We're only human!

Originally Posted by Anddrew

Have just bought A BSRSX5M for a spare.new old stock it will either work or it wont

As has been said to you from the beginning, this X5 /X6 range of carts is right for this player but time may not have been kind to them, hence members' suggestions of other types. I would again recommend the BSR SC12 if you can find one for cheap, they last better and the output is about right for your Bush. I know you were concerned about the fitting procedure for the stylus on the BSR types, but I doubt it is any harder than what you already have.
See the sticky document on 'ceramic crystal cartridge specs' I put together some years back, the outputs of a large number of carts are listed there.

[Anddrew]

Thankyou for your post Ben, but from the start this thread was started about title Interested In Bush SSRP31 . Along the way i mentioned SRP31 a early Early 1957 also i have a Bush with Garrad deck 210 1959 which is repeated multiple times. Then i mentioned a Bush SRP31C later on then someone metioned SRP31D which was not mentioned by me from the start.

now onto your phrase
Rather uncalled for i am not getting into typo disputes but you have no idea how hard it is to try to undertake a task half blind i am registered partially sighted with West Yorkshire council so i find your comment very hurtful.

in some post their has been some misunderstandings by members even me so please try to see what it is like if your vision was taken away from you its not nice .

I still feel if explanations of suitable options of cartridges had been given earlier, besides the BSR carts would have helped me. It took along time to get things sorted i had to accept limitations of suitable cartridges thanks to Andrew he gave examples of cartridges which were possible to source besides BSR which are not .

To comment on the BSR SC12 The electronic repair guy which has 40 years experience did try his best he is well aware of scarce carts .The BSR SC12 and that when he fitted it was terrible lower volume so he said. I did mention to him because Edward put a post about BSRSC11 and BSRSC12 .I did look on the net and saw the difference to a BSR X5M the latter 2 pins the SC11and SC12 4 pins so he fitted the only suitable cart he had a BSRSX6M.

Also Edward pointed out if this was fitted Tdigits would have to be done.To a non electronic expert this left me BLANK. no explanantion of what Tdigts are.
So i was guessing remember a half blind person studying a cart with not 2 round pins of a mono cart ,but to my weak eyes look a different shape .I am presuming something would have to be changed wired up to 4 pins. so you see buying a cartridge is not just as simple as many newbies think.

I will still repeat i have Thanked people many times. yes i do no what voluntary advice is i gave it many many times when i ran my own business even if it never generated a sale .But on reading some posts on here on this thread i did find at times some kind members were been constantly corrected . This in turn causes confusion to non experienced electronically minded people who wish to learn basics.
i guess at the end of the day we are individuals and we react to differently i now feel got at which has upset me.

To sum things up not everyone is interested in buying restoring repairing Vintage and i would have thought fellow enthusiasts welcome anyone taking a interest in owning Vintage Appliances. experienced or not experienced Maybe that is not the case here. I came on here to ask questions at times i felt at times with some answers i was going round in a circle only to post 47 did i actually get more options.

please feel free to post if you wish but please do not upset me.

[ben]

I am sorry you still feel the need to moan after all the help that has been given to you. I don't see what more can be done here, so I will not post again on this thread.

Good luck

[Anddrew]

I am not moaning Ben and i feel sorry you have felt that way , you are entitled to your opinions and i feel you have been hard on me. Not bothering to take my disability into account whatsoever.So maybe it a wise decision not to post anymore should you feel that way.

Now back to something positive instead of the latter. My other Bush SRP31 is now in a workshop having its service for the first time in 65 years .You could tell because well you expect years of dust to settle on electronic circuit ,Mullard valves looking pretty dusty with years of build uusual capacitors looikng aged will get replaced along with anything necessary . the Mullard valves though are in Excellent condition. these valves do seem to be great quality and do seem to last well i guess we did make something in the UK at one time .

Does anyone know where to find a date of a record players manufacturing date besides seen stamped on a plessey component .

[Station X]

Originally Posted by Edward Huggins

Whilst we will all respect your Patriotism, do bear in mind that none of these items are now made in the UK.
Whilst you can buy NOS, not all of these will have been made in the UK and also these items may be over 50 years old.
When searching for a new cartridge it is the BSR X5M you need, not the BSR X5H. If you can't find one, then source a BSR SC11M or a BSR SC12H - but these will be Stereo cartridges and so will need both channels bridging by someone who can help you do tgids.
Forgive me foe repeating myself as I know that I have explained this all to you before....

My bold text.

I think Edward meant to type "this" rather than "tgids" which has certainly confused the OP.

Some people decry the use of spell checkers because they can't always handle homophones, but they would certainly have highlighted this error.

[Edward Huggins]

Yes, I'm sorry this was a Typo error, I meant "this" .
As far as this Thread goes, I am beginning to find that my Posts to the OP are often repeats of that advice I have originally offered. So unless there are any new developments, I cannot see what further worthwhile contribution I can make.